(BLOOMINGTON) - Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton vetoed the creation of a city parking commission, returning the measure to the city council without his signature.

"The proposal's author did extensive research on the important issue of parking in our community and particularly in our downtown core area," the mayor writes in the letter he sent to council explaining his reasons for the veto. "I appreciate and agree that this issue merits attention and additional study and review."

Hamilton says the issue deserves consideration, but wants to combine existing commissions or creating a time-defined task force to tackle the issue, especially considering the 37 current boards, commissions and committees that all require staff support.

"While adding one more commission may not itself seem a significant drain on staff resources, collectively the total number of hours committed to staffing these groups is very substantial," Hamilton wrote, adding it may be time to evaluate the effectiveness of the different advising bodies. "I would encourage a joint effort in reviewing the values of these bodies prior to adding a 38th to the list."

In order to overturn Hamilton's veto and put the ordinance into place without the mayor's signature, the council needs six votes.

Because the ordinance originally passed with seven votes (and one member absent), Hamilton respectfully requested that the council consider alternatives -- either combining the Traffic and Bicycle and Pedestrian commissions to make a Mobility Management Commission that would have parking as a topic of review or join in an overall review of each existing panel to "utilize both citizen and staff time in the most efficient and effective way for our community."